MAILBOX

Published: August 2, 2003 8:00 PM

Editor:

After the Abraham Luzadder column by Greg Parks appeared recently in The Sunday Jeffersonian, we received a call from Nancy Robinson, who lives in the Salt Fork area. She stated that her son, Jim, who lives in Belmont County, knew the name of the person who placed the stone on Abrahams grave.

We placed a call to Jim Robinson at his home in Belmont County and he related the following story:

He (Jim) remembered some 10 or 12 years ago that his father, who was a Center Township trustee at the time, was contacted by a man from Barnesville as to information regarding the Luzadder Cemetery. With the aid of a friend who works for a monument company Jim located the person.

When Jim called on the man he found a very reserved person, a student of history, and apparently a deep interest in veterans, who does not wish to appear in the limelight.

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He did, however, consent to meet with a member of the Luzadder family.

Sunday afternoon we met Jim Robinson and his wife in Barnesville. They took us to a parking lot where we met this gentlemen. When introduced to Frances Luzadder Morgan he said, I never thought I would talk with a descendant of Abraham.

He told us he first learned of Abraham Luzadder while attending meetings of the Historical Society in Cambridge. A number of that group pooled their money to purchase a stone. He did not say where the stone came from, only that it was lettered at Guernsey Memorials on Turner Avenue. As near as he could remember, he and two other men set the stone on a foundation of crushed rock in the year 1990. He also said the reason the stone is flat is that the Society did not wish to disturb, or overpower the original marker.

When told that a follow-up story would appear in The Jeffersonian, we asked if he would consent to use his name. His reply: I was only one, there were many others involved and they are probably all gone. We took that to mean no.

We have tried to present only the facts as told to us by the person involved. We hope to respect his wishes.

We talked to Melissa Essex and she said the Historical Society would not have any records of the 1989 or 1990 meetings.

P.S. We asked if he was involved in erecting stones on other veterans graves. He smiled and said, Maybe a couple.